Dr. Lera explains that canine coronaviruses exist but usually cause mild disease. The emerging human coronavirus was compared to SARS, and it was unclear whether pets could carry or transmit it. Common signs in dogs include cough, nasal discharge, diarrhea, and vomiting.
Hey guys, My name is Dr. Lara here in Heron Lakes Animal Hospital. Today we're talking about dun, dun, dun coronavirus. So the last couple of weeks or last week or two, you guys have been hearing about the coronavirus. And in veterinary medicine we do have coronavirus in dogs. Now, it is not something normally that causes a lot of problems. We don't usually go ahead and even vaccinate for coronavirus anymore. There are so many different strains of it and most of the time dogs are going to get over it on their own. Now, that being said, the coronavirus that you guys are hearing about from China, that is something that is very similar to sars, but we're thinking that it's not as virulent, which means it's not going to potentially cause as severe disease as sars. And so the thought is, okay, hey, people are concerned that maybe you might be able to get this from your pet. And the reason being is because this was initially found at a seafood market. And so the issue is that doesn't. Just because it's found where there's a bunch of animals doesn't necessarily mean that it came from the animals, because obviously if this is a market, the market is for people to go buy stuff. So it could potentially be from people. Now, the most common thing that we think as the place where a lot of these viruses start will be bats. And so one of the things that I want to let you know in regards to your dogs and your cats and and that kind of stuff, as of right now, it's too early for us to be able to tell where this virus has come from, if it's going to be able to be, to go, to be carried by dogs or cats or other animals, and if it can be transferred from the humans to those animals and then from those animals to other humans. Now, one of the things that we do have to take into consideration, whenever we have anybody showing any sort of respiratory signs, which is one of the ways that it can be shown, cough, discharge from the nose. That kind of stu coronavirus in dogs can also be seen in terms of some sort of GI upset. So diarrhea, vomiting, nauseousness, some dogs, in worst case scenario they can have seizures or suddenly die. That's pretty uncommon though. And so if you have a dog that's showing clinical signs, it's really important for us to know, hey, has that dog been around or cat, has that person, that cat or pet been around? Anyone who has potentially human being been showing any of these, Vice versa, if you have a human that is showing some of these coronavirus signs. We need to ask, hey, has the pet been showing any of these signs? The reason that we really want to hone in on this is because we want to be able to track where this stuff is going if it actually does come into the states. Okay. So at the end of the day, this is something that is really early in the process, and we're still trying to figure out, you know, whether or not dogs will be able to carry it or if cats will be able to carry it. And we want to know, just like what they'll typically do is if people are suspected to have the coronavirus, they will typically be quarantined in their house, in a bedroom or something like that. But the issue is, if you have a pet that's in the house, going into the bedroom, hanging out with that quarantine person, and then having that pet come and hang out with the rest of the family, we don't know yet if that pet could potentially act as a carrier. So that is something to keep in mind. All right. At the end of the day, it's really early. If you have any questions or concerns, make sure to speak with your medical providers, your veterinarians, and or your medical doctors. If you guys have any questions about this particular topic, please leave it in the comment box. If you found this video helpful, give us a thumbs up. Otherwise, share with others so that they know what the deal is. Thanks for watching. Be safe and have a great day.
